Why marijuana businesses can’t get a checking account

Aug. 23–Marijuana dispensaries are awash in green — not just cannabis but also the stacks and stacks of cash they receive for their product and can’t deposit in a bank.

In Colorado, Washington and other states that have legalized marijuana, dispensaries are all-cash businesses with nowhere to stash their money but safes. If Florida voters approve a medical marijuana referendum in November, they could create an industry that generates hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, much of it held outside the formal banking system.